by Susan Hartley, The Early Bird
Featured Story – 3rd Place
GREENVILLE – Lindsey McGlinch isn’t afraid of trying something new.
The 2005 Greenville High School graduate started a new career when she was hired as a GHS school nurse this past summer, keeps stats for the GHS girls basketball team, and is a member of the Miami Valley Raptors, a co-ed wheelchair basketball team, which is part of the Miami Valley Adaptive Sports organization.
She also participates as a member of the Lincoln Way Special Recreation Association’s wheelchair basketball team, based in Chicago.
McGlinch, 32, has advice for those who may be facing any type of physical limitation.
“Be active. Don’t be afraid to try different things. Don’t think you can’t do it.”
McGlinch, who was injured as the result of a car accident when she was 10 years old, has followed her own advice, earning degrees and certifications, which led to her returning home to work.
Following graduation from high school, McGlinch earned a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from the University of Dayton, then worked as a tutor for Greenville Schools. She returned to school to earn an associate’s degree in nursing from Kettering College, then worked at Northridge School district as a school nurse.
She was recruited to play wheelchair basketball for the Lady Movin’ Mavs at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she continued her education by earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She then returned to Wright State to earn a license in school nursing.
As an RN-BSN, McGlinch worked three years with Mad River Schools before returning to GHS.
“I like working with the kids at school,” she said. “There’s something new every day.”
McGlinch also said when she was hired at Greenville, she thought she might see her dad Steve McGlinch, the high school’s custodian, on a more regular basis. “But I don’t, unless there’s something to clean up in the clinic,” she added with a laugh.
McGlinch said she became involved with wheelchair basketball about nine years ago, after seeing an exhibition game, which included the Raptors team while she was attending Wright State.
“I asked if I could try out and was told that it wasn’t necessary to try out, just come to practice and see how it goes. I started going to practices,” which are held in the basement gym of Miami Valley Hospital, she said.
For the past eight years, McGlinch has played as a shooting guard for the
team, which in 2016 earned a fifth place in the Top 10 for Division 3.
This year, the Raptors will begin their season play after the first of the year. The Raptors travel for exhibitions in Ft. Wayne, Ind. and to cities in Michigan and Kentucky, McGlinch said.
Most wheelchair basketball teams are based in larger cities, McGlinch explained. For example, other than Dayton, Ohio has teams in Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. Members of the Chicago team McGlinch plays for come from Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
It’s also important to understand, McGlinch said, that not all wheelchair team members are confined to wheelchairs.
“Some have sustained injuries limiting their mobility. They play in a wheelchair, then when the game’s over, they get up and go on. There’s a gamut of disabilities that qualifies a person to play on a wheelchair team.”
McGlinch doesn’t limit her sports to basketball. She’s also active in road racing sports – running marathons and 5Ks in the area.
“It’s all for fun,” McGlinch said. “It’s allowed me to travel the country, meet new people and visit cities I wouldn’t have gone to.”
